Graphics: Michael Alesich

As we near the end of the season, the finals race starts to heat up (and so do our brains as we try and calculate all the varying combos possible!) Wanderers made a late run with a win over City, Sydney scored six in a chaotic match up against Perth, while Adelaide maintained their trajectory by beating Newcastle and Victory drew against a busy game against Canberra. Keep reading to find out more. 

Western Sydney Wanderers 1 – 0 Melbourne City

Written by Lani Johnson

The Western Sydney Wanderers have kept their finals hopes alive after a 1-0 win over Melbourne City on Thursday night.

City started the match strongly, exposing the Wanderers defence on occasion. A powerful shot from Alex Chidiac almost put her side in front inside the first 20 minutes, only to be denied by a superb save from the Wanderers’ keeper Sarah Willacy.

The Wanderers narrowly kept the score line at 0-0 going into halftime with some scrambling defence after Willacy missed the ball on the edge of the box.

There were a few chances for both sides in the second half, but it was the star substitute Leena Khamis who eventually broke the deadlock. Teigan Collister dribbled at pace in a counter-attack effort before slipping the ball through to Khamis. The veteran expertly slid the ball past the keeper, off the side bar and into the back of the net.

Khamis almost doubled the score line with only minutes remaining, but Tegan Micah denied the striker with a quick save to keep the final score at 1-0.

The Wanderers keep their position at sixth on the ladder with finals football, snapping at Canberra’s heels, while City remain at 8th. 

Perth Glory 2 – 6 Sydney FC

Written by Neil Bennett

A stunning second-half display by Sydney FC in Perth on Thursday evening has seen Ante Juric’s side take a significant step towards claiming the Premiership. They blitzed Perth Glory with three rapid-fire goals after the break to end the resistance of the home team and go 5 points clear at the top of the table.

Going into the game, the Sky Blues probably thought the game was one in which they could just cruise to victory. However, Glory coach Alex Epakis sent his team out with real intent and they took the game to the league leaders during an intense and combative first half. The home crowd were delighted to see their team take the fight up to Sydney, and the visitors looked a little shaken by Perth’s intensity. 

Whilst Glory were able to match their opponents in terms of possession and passing they couldn’t find a finish to their hard work, and they paid for this in the 44th minute when Remy Simesen fired her team in front with a crisp left foot strike from the edge of the area.

The half time talk Juric delivered to his team paid almost immediate dividends in the 48th minute when Princess Ibini scored a delightful goal to put her side two up. Taking the ball down from cross on the right, she turned her defender before firing in a left foot shot past the despairing dive of Lily Alfeld in the Glory goal.

Two became three just five minutes later when Siemsen ran onto a scooped pass over the Glory defence and her low shot eluded Alfeld for her second goal of the game.

Sydney were rampant at this stage and it was no surprise when they made it 4-0 in the 61st minute, as Clare Wheeler stole in front of the defence to get onto the end of an Ally Wheeler cross and slot it home.

Glory looked shell shocked at this stage, but then mounted a mini revival when teenager Hana Lowry scored a brace in two minutes. Her first in the 63rd minute saw her capitalise on a poor clearance from the Sydney defence which she picked up and then hit a fierce left foot shot past Jada Whyman. She added a second two minutes later when substitute Jamie Lee-Gale went on a surging run down the right flank. Lowry reacted first to the cross and steered the ball into the net to make it 4-2.

Any faint hopes of an unlikely revival for the home team were snuffed out in the 71st minute when Wheeler scored her second with a fabulous solo goal. There was still more drama to come with Alfeld pulling off a penalty save to deny Wheeler a hat trick, before Sarah Carroll was adjudged to have scored an own goal when she deflected Ibini’s powerful strike into the Glory net in the 95th minute for Sydney’s sixth.

Newcastle Jets 1 – 2 Adelaide United

Written by Angela Christian-Wilkes

Adelaide were looking to bounce back after a close loss to premier favourites Sydney, while Newcastle were looking to preserve some grace as their finals hopes fall away. 

Both sides fired early. Usual suspect Tara Andrews wriggled through Adelaide’s defence to poke the ball off target, before Chelsie Dawber hit the post at the other end shortly after.

It was Dawber – coming back from illness after missing last round’s fixture – who converted for Adelaide in the 12th minute. She darted around Gema Simon to shoot with her left and smack the ball into the inside side netting. 

Simon amended for not stopping Dawber a mere minute later with a spectacular goal curling in and over from the left, bringing it to 1-1. 

It wasn’t long – in fact, only two more minutes – before Adelaide grabbed back the lead. Captain Dylan Holmes fed the ball to the far post where Emily Condon was able to slot it in. This made for three goals in five minutes.

The second half was a physical contest with neither side unable to get another goal. Clare Coelho kept her team in the game with Save of the Round in the 69th minute, knocking the header in from Lia Waldus off the bar.

While the Jets made every effort to get into the final third and equalise, Adelaide were organised in their ability to stifle that. Jets’ closest chance occured when Panagiota Petratos attempted to sidestep going through the defence with a long shot, the ball dipping and hitting the top of the net. 

The win sees Adelaide collect five wins in a season for the second time ever, and suggests this might well be the year they make finals. Jets, on the other hands, will be relying on  other results to scrape into the top four. 

Melbourne Victory 1 – 1 Canberra United

Written by Steffen Moebus

Four played five at Epping Stadium with just two points between them in this critical match-up in the run home towards finals, with a win to either team to be significant in shaping the top four.

Both teams opened brightly. It was Victory captain Angie Beard who opened the scoring inside the first ten minutes, with Canberra keeper Keeley Richards seemingly losing her bearings with Beard’s effort. 

The goal helped settle the Victory side and they went on to dominate the first half, with Canberra looking a little flat in the humid conditions. As Kyra Cooney-Cross pulled the strings in midfield, the Canberra defence had their hands full containing Lisa De Vanna’s running game. Emma Ilijoski at left-back in particular showed that she is well and truly up to the challenge at this level.

Bianca Galic and Nikki Flannery brought the away side out of their funk in first-half injury time, with the quality of Galic’s through ball matched by the coolness of Flannery’s finish.   

United pressed hard in the second half for a second goal, but despite Laura Hughes delighting with a 180-degree turn-and-shoot, and Galic shooting powerfully from range, Victory was able to withstand the pressure and cause troubles of their own for the Canberra defence. Richards and Jessika Nash combined to miraculously keep Annalie Longo (coming off the bench and adding real impetus to Victory’s game) and De Vanna out in the dying moments of normal time.

(Video courtesy w-league.com.au)

 

With games to come against Sydney FC and Brisbane Roar in their run home, Canberra United will need to continue building momentum to regain their footing in the top four. Victory have a more favourable run home but know they’ll have to maintain consistency while looking over their shoulder at Canberra United and Western Sydney Wanderers. 

 

Round 11 details

All times are AEDT. 

  • Melbourne Victory vs Western Sydney Wanderers at Lakeside Stadium – Thursday, March 4, 7:05pm. 
  • Adelaide United vs Sydney FC at Marden Sports Complex – Saturday, March 6, 7:05pm.
  • Canberra United vs Brisbane Roar at Viking Park – Sunday, March 7, 4:05pm. 
  • Perth Glory vs Newcastle Jets at Dorrien Gardens – Monday, March 8, 9.35pm. 

Download our shareable W-League calendar. 

Lani Johnson
Lani Johnson
Previously have written for TWG, and intern at The Football Sack covering Sydney FC men’s and women’s sides

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